Don’t Get Scammed By Fake Sephora Advent Calendar for $29 Sale
As the Holiday season approaches, scammers are looking for ways to rip people off their money. There has been an increase in online shopping scams, and the Sephora Advent Calendar Scam is the latest one.
Here’s a guide on how the 2023 Sephora Advent Calendar scam works, how to avoid it, and what to do if you’re a victim.
The Outline of The Sephora Advent Calendar Scam
The Sephora Advent Calendar contains 24 beauty and skincare products (a total value of $93), sold for $49, but is currently out of stock. As a result of this, scammers are using this scarcity opportunity to fleece beauty lovers. They use Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok to display discount of up to 50% for the 2023 Sephora Advent Calendar. Buyers are made to believe that for just $29 , they could own the luxurious beauty advent calendars which actually cost more than $40.
Clicking on the sales link, customers are led to a website that looks legit. However, after placing an order, the store does not send the items or give any tangible feedback.
Who Is Behind This Scam?
Online shopping scams like this one are often run by international cyber criminals from their home countries. The fraudsters use anonymous entities to buy and register the fake websites. Then they pay website designers to create an imitation of legit Sephora website. After that, they launch Ads on social media; Facebook, Instagram, Titkok, etc using high discount as a bait to attract buyers.
The goal of this scammer is to steal buyers money (by failing to deliver the items after orders are placed) and to steal people’s credit card info.
How The $29 Sephora Advent Calendar Scam Targets & Steal People’s Money
Uses Ads On Facebook With Discounts That are Too Good To Be Ignored
These fraudulent websites use ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These ads appear randomly on people’s pages with mouth-watering discounts.
Uses A Recently Registered Website
The scammers always use a fresh website that is easy to dispose off. Sometimes they buy a domain that looks similar to jomalone.eu. The website is also designed in such a way that it looks very much like an original Jo Malone brand store. All to increase their chance of making people fall for the scam offer.
Hooks Customers with Fake Reviews
Aside from enticing customers with low prices, the scam also uses falsified reviews on the comment section. They do this to increase the level of trust and make buyers lower their guards.
Displays a UK Address or Company
UK address or Companies are often used by the fake shopping sites. One of the companies used now is ‘Donald Network Media Co., Ltd’ However, it’s just a virtual company, easily registered on Companies House were you can register any kind of company for as low as $5.
Collects Payments and Disappears
Once the buyer make a payment the scammers completely vanishes. There’s no feedback or positive response.
Shuts Down The Website & Start A New One
Once there are lots of negative reviews online about a particular website, the scammers shut it down and it becomes inaccessible. Then they move on to another website, and start the structure again.
How To Spot The Scam Sephora Advent Calendar Ads on Social Media
Too Good To Be True Ads
Fake ads on social media are often easy to spot by their discount offers. Remember the old adage; ‘If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,’. Look for language like “limited time offer” or “only a few left,” both of which are signs of fake ads on social media.
Low Price Point
Massive discounts on branded items are a telltale sign that this is a fake ad on social media. If the ad promises you valuable, high-demand goods at a price point that’s absurdly lower than everyone else’s, it’s either a counterfeit product or a scam store.
The URL doesn’t begin with https://
If you’ve clicked on a social media ad and have been taken to a website, check the URL. If it doesn’t begin with https://, that’s a red flag, and they could be running an online shopping scam. “The ‘s’ indicates a higher level of encryption security
Turned off Comments
If the social media page has comments turned off, this is a red flag. Scammers turn off comments because they don’t want to invite customer service questions or people griping about the product they ordered that never arrived.
Recently Created Page
Fake Ads often come from newly created pages. Pro tip; Check the ratio of followers to engagement. People who buy followers will have low engagement compared to their follower number, and the comments will tend to be generic sounding.
What You Should Do If You’re a Victim Of This Advent Calendar Scam
Contact Your bank To Cancel The Transaction and Get a Refund
The first thing you should do is contact your bank to inform them about the fraudulent purchase. Through the chargeback system, you can get your money back from the transaction if you file a dispute claim. You could also request for a credit card freeze. That way, your bank would block any future transactions on your credit card, ensuring that scammers are unable to exploit it.
Update Your Passwords and Enable Two Factor Authentication
The second step you should take is updating your passwords. This should be done if you’ve used the same password you used on the websites or applications. You should also go an extra step of enabling two-factor authentication. This would keep you protected from data breech.
Meanwhile, you should beware of any fraudulent email from [email protected]. Do not click on any suspicious link in the email, as it could be a phishing scam. Clicking on the link might install malware on your phone which could compromise your device’s security.
Report the Scam;
Report the scam to relevant authorities and organizations. This includes:
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): If you are in the United States, you can file a complaint with the IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov/.
- Your Local Consumer Protection Agency: Contact your local consumer protection agency or the equivalent regulatory body in your country.
- Better Business Bureau (BBB): File a complaint with the BBB if the online store is based in the United States.
How To Easily Identify a Scam Sephora Advent Calendar Website
Aside from the obvious too good to be true discount sale, here are other ways to identify a scam website;
Recently Registered Website
How old is the website? The domain age of a website tells a lot about a store’s legitimacy or transparency. Websites below 6 months old are often considered unsafe. You can find out a website’s age by checking on Who.is ( a free domain checker tool)
Website Lacks SSL Encryption
find out if the website is secured with SSL encryption. (https and padlock symbols). If the padlock symbol doesn’t appear near the website’s URL, then it means your personal and financial information is at risk at the store.
No Business Address/ Fake Business Address
Does The website provide return address? If Yes (Copy the address and paste on your browser. Google map would show if it is a real warehouse address or a residential address) If the address has also been used by other websites you’d see reviews in search results.
No Reviews Online
Are there customer reviews online? (It is advised that you sit it out if there are no customer reviews of the store. However if you’re not patient enough to wait you can send a mail to us to verify if the store is legit)
Shady or No Returns and Refund policy
If the policy isn’t available or if it isn’t clear, you should quit shopping.
Unsecure methods of Payment
When an online store’s payment methods lack the necessary encryption and security measures to protect customers’ sensitive financial information, it puts you – the shopper at risk of unauthorized transactions.
Final Thoughts
Just like the Jo Malone Advent Calendar Scam, The 2023 Sephora Advent Calendar for $29 is a scam offer not from Sephora. Once payments are made, the scammers steal people’s credit card info and don’t deliver the advent calendar. Beware of any website claiming to sell 2023 Sephora Advent Calendar. It’s currently out of stock.
